Pickering farm manure spill into creek killed fish: ministry

Watercourse runs through Whitby to Lake Ontario

Heber Downs creek advisory

Sabrina Byrnes / Metroland

WHITBY -- A notice has been posted at Heber Downs Conservation Area, advising people to stay out of the creek until further notice, due to a water quality issue resulting in fish killed in Lynde Creek. July 24, 2014

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The incident happened on July 16 and affected a 20-kilometre stretch of the creek, said Patricia Lowe, the director of stewardship, education and communication for Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority.

The creek runs through the Heber Down Conservation Area and Kirk Bertschy said he, his wife and their three sons were walking in the area when they noticed dead fish.

“We saw a lot of minnows freshly dead. They were laying amongst the rocks,” he said. “There was a bit of an odour. It wasn’t foul, just different.”

The family saw dead fish and the thought was “OK, that’s strange. We were crossing the creek and the kids saw more dead fish and crawfish. I saw a brook trout, about a foot long and it was laying on the bottom. Something must have happened because it wasn’t right,” Mr. Bertschy said.

Kristen Glinka, a supervisor with the York Durham District Office of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, said in an e-mail, “Based on observations at the spill site, ministry staff believe the spill is likely agricultural run-off from a farming operation located north of Concession Road 8 in the Town of Pickering.”

The ministry issued a provincial officer’s order to the unnamed farm operator to stop the run-off and take corrective action to prevent a recurrence, she added.

There is no monetary penalty with the order, but it does require the farm operator to take steps to prevent further discharge to Lynde Creek and its tributaries, and to ensure proper manure storage on the property, Ms. Glinka noted.

The ministry has inspected the site regularly since the spill and has found no further discharges to the creek, she added.

As for what remediation work is to be done, Ms. Glinka noted, “The ministry took action to require the agricultural run-off into Lynde Creek to stop. The ministry will continue to work with other agencies including the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority to monitor the creek.”

Water sampling is continuing in the creek, she added.

A sign posted at Heber Down last Thursday warned visitors to stay out of the creek.

Mr. Bertschy noted in an e-mail, “The water had a brownish colour, but not muddy like it would after a rainfall. It was quite clear that something had spilled into the creek, as all of the fish were dead.”

Mr. Bertschy said he called CLOCA and was told they were aware of the issue.

“I asked if they thought it might have been due to all of the Hwy. 407 construction in the area, but they said no. They also indicated that the Ministry of the Environment had been on site conducting an investigation,” Mr. Bertschy wrote.

Ms. Lowe said the impacted area is from north of Heber Down all the way south to Lynde Shore.

Water quality and fish samples have been taken, and CLOCA is continuing to do fish monitoring, Ms. Lowe noted.

She couldn’t definitively say it was a one-day occurrence, but added, “There’s been no issues since last Thursday (July 17).”